Industry

Carnival of Rock and Roll-July 2009

Alright, its July, it's summer...although it's still in the high 60s (F) here in Chicago some days, not exactly summer weather... and its time to bring you more rock and roll meanderings from fellow music enthusiasts... It's time for the Carnival of Rock 'n' Roll of course!

This month's carnival seemed to be plagued with spam... to the point of which I wasn't sure if I'd even run it, if there would be enough material to make it worthwhile.

Some of said spam was quite amusing, like the query about my article on the Mars Volta from articles on Mars... like the planet. Or the articles on "Alternatives to Back Surgery" submitted under "Alternative" OR the articles submitted under "Metal" about... well metal, tungsten to be exact. Automated responses perhaps? Maybe... maybe not. That's not a knock against those bloggers. I understand they need to promote their work too and appreciate their enthusiasm, even if it is automated. And I'm certainly not knocking those articles either... the tungsten one was especially informative. I just thought it was amusing and wanted to share for some brief comedic value. This isn't the first time I've been confronted with off topic articles, but I'm easily amused by absurdity.

As for the articles in the Carnival, they were all pretty varied and interesting... as always... so lets get to it.

First we have a play list from A. Decker at Resonant Enigma featuring some Alice Cooper and more, along with a brief bit hinting at how those songs fit in with Decker's life: The 'Get-By'

Amy from Gypsy Jiving passed along a short piece that's sort of promoting another article. Normally I'm not too big on this kind of promotion, but the other piece is actually pretty interesting... about Duff McKagan from Guns 'n' Roses and elsewhere... so I thought I'd cut Amy some slack and include it anyways: Shameless Begging - Right Up My Alley!

Barking Mad from Black Barking Mad Death etc. sent along something I'm actually really excited to see... it's a piece on the Misfits. I've been wanting to write something on the Misfits for a long time now, but I don't yet think I'm capable of REALLY doing this band justice. Their influence on the metal, punk and hardcore scenes is immense and yet they often don't get the respect they deserve, so I'm glad Barking Mad went to all the trouble to put together a bunch of art, songs and videos all on the Misfits to share: Misfits

Courtesy of Brooklyn, from Online University Lowdown, we have a massive list of YouTube Music Lessons, separated by instrument... no more having to scour the web to expand your musical knowledge: 100 Free Music Lessons You Can Take On YouTube

Chris from Indiescreet sent along a pair of articles, both worth checking out:

Eric from CamelClutchBlog passed along a little something about Guitar Hero. I'm not a big fan of the game to be honest (not knocking anyone who is), but I am a fan the band (and glad to see their music getting out there where younger generations can hear it) who's "track pack" he's discussing, Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden Track Pack Now on Rock Band

Kilroy from Fear and Loathing â€“ The Gonzo Papers sent along a tribute to a friend. That may not sound directly like it's music related, but he uses a few Springsteen tracks to make his tribute. It's not only effective but in my mind also gives a lot of insight into exactly how music relates to our lives, emotions and experiences... felt it was worth sharing: The Last Road Trip - Part 6

Mathew from Creating Lifelong Learners takes a look at the latest from a band that's been one of my recent favorites as well (and getting a lot of press), Wilco: Wilco (The Album) Review

We have three top 10 lists from the Old Wizard. In typical fashion (the old wizard is something of a carnival regular at this point, and never one afraid to speak his mind) they are sure to both stir up controversy and make you laugh as they contain plenty of bite, sarcasm and wit.

1) A look at the worst kinds of music, some of which I thoroughly agree with, and some of which I thoroughly disagree... interesting, amusing and plenty debatable: Top 10 Worst Types of Music

2) A look at songs is next... Make sure to read the comments as I especially like the one this list about "Do you actually think anyone cares?" I don't mean that as a knock against the list, or the Old Wizard, it's just a comment that is strikingly honest, and one all bloggers should ask themselves... we take ourselves far too seriously. Oh, but yeah, the list, make your own judgments: Top 10 Most Overrated Songs

3) And last, one that's expected from this particular writer (big Oasis fan). I was especially excited to see what song they picked for #1 as it just happens to be one of my favorites from this band as well: Top 10 Oasis Songs

And last but not least we have a pair of news-esque articles from Pete the Beatle Geek, from Beatles Gifts talking about what else but The Beatles!

And there you have it... July's Carnival of Rock 'n' Roll complete and in the archives.

I didn't realize just how wide of range of material was included until I was writing it all up. Great work everyone. I hope you all enjoy checking everything out as much as I did. You all missed out on a killer article on Tungsten, but well, you can try to dig it up on Google if you want.

Keep up the good work everyone, we'll see you next month.

If you submitted your work to the carnival, but it wasn't chosen, don't fret. There aren't a lot of standards to be included, except to be about music, but I don't publish blatant advertisements, personal attacks on artists, celebrity gossip, things off topic or things I can't read (sorry, English only). Also, I'd appreciate if you only submit some of your best works, not short, few word posts and try to keep multiple submissions within reason, meaning you can send two or three articles at most, but not like six... if you Spam the carnival with entries or with articles off topic you won't be included.

I still appreciate your contribution even if I didn't choose to include it and hope you won't hesitate to submit new work to next month's carnival.

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